In my review of Paul Pinn's other novel, The
Pariah, I commented on how unrelentingly bleak
that story was, but no less entertaining for it. Here is more of the
same - from its intriguing dedication to some of the people with mental
problems that Pinn (a psychiatric nurse) has encountered over the years,
to the genuinely shocking finale (a sudden twist literally in the tail,
in the last paragraph!).

The Horizontal Split is an ensemble story dealing mainly with
Sarah, a young schizophrenic whose baby has been taken from her by her
psychopathic mother and well-meaning but manipulated father. Sarah is
convinced her baby is in India and travels there, pursued - separately
- by her parents, each with their own reason to find her. Her father
hires a discredited psychiatrist who once treated Sarah, who is in turn
pursued by a spurned former student.

Pinn draws on his knowledge of psychiatry and also apparent first hand
experience of India to tie this - on first examination - loopy plot
together in a tight manner. The characters are well drawn and do not
descend to stereotyping, which would have been an easy option with so
many 'main players' to deal with. Amazingly, the novel is quite short
but does not feel rushed or half-developed. I am fully in favour of
stories finding their own length and it is to Pinn's credit that he
does not attempt to pad out the novel with gumph. It feels tight and
compact and above all, works.

As usual, it is a sad state of affairs that writers of Pinn's obvious
calibre have to resort to self-publishing in order to make their work
available. The Horizontal Split (albeit, paradoxically, in a
longer form!) would more than satisfy the thriller crowd who devour
Ruth Rendell et al. Sadly, unless they make the effort to access the
British small press, they are unlikely to ever get the opportunity.